Gargoyles and Goblins
Gargoyles and Goblins is a 1967 album by the Lovian garage rock band Gargoyles. This was a seminal album in the garage scene which would the the group's only album, leading to a sort of cult status among music connaisseurs. When released, it was not a commercial success, with only 1200 copies of the album pressed. Background and recording Goblins was formed in the spring of 1966. The group was composed of Gerry Smith (bass and vocals), Jim Reeves (guitar and vocals), Don Dufour (drums) and Eric Bates (guitar, tambourine). The group, from Noble City, was heavily influenced by British Invasion rock and performed out of Dufour's house, the only one with a garage they could perform in. They self-released one single in October 1966, the Reeves-penned Erica backed with a cover of Satisfaction. Only 80 copies were ever made, but Joseph B. Kensington, head of the nascent Attack Records (and later with Lovilago Music) heard the group's single among many others sent to the band and was interested in signing them to his label. By the time he received the single, in December 1966, the group had disbanded as Bates and Reeves graduated from high school. He was eventually able to contract Reeves in the spring, and with the promise of a 1000-copy record deal was able to get him to agree to reunite the band to record an album. Reeves and Smith began writing music, and Kensington had songwriter (later of The Coasters) Louis Alden held with some of the songs and refine what Reeves and Smith had. Recording took place over one week in mid April, and the fairly limited budget and quality of recording further lent to the raw and fuzzy sound of the songs, which had an appeal amongst youth. 12 songs were recorded, though only nine included in the album, with Reeves keeping the rights to the three cut ones. The album itself was poorly designed, and the cover was a modified picture of the band by one of the pillars of the Capitol in Noble City. Release 1200 copies were eventually released, but sales were very slow. Furthermore, there were issues with Bigtop records, owners of the rights of Del Shannon's Runaway, covered by the band, and some money from sales were sent to them. It is believed that only 800 or so copies were sold within the three months of release, and the group disbanded in October. Reissues In 1985, Lovilago, the inheritors to Attack Records, re-issued the album, with an updated cover and the inclusion of the Erica/Satisfaction single into the album. This became fairly successful, selling 9000 copies in Lovia and over 12,000 in the United States alone. The label agreed with the band to increase their portion of the revenues in exchange for allowing their unreleased material to be included in a future EP. The album became available on CD in 1994 and most recently in 2013. A modern-day album reissue with all 14 of their recorded songs (from 1966 and 1967) was made and sold, available for L$ 34.99. Tracklist Collectibility Original copies of the album are highly collectible. Only several hundred are believed to exist, and they sell for upwards of L$ 100-200 per copy. Even the 1985 reissues are increasing in value, with some selling for as high as L$60 in top shape. Category:Album